conspicuous and fluttering flight

things have a way of catching up
and then disappearing all together
it's kind of like watching a really good film
just when you're completely immersed in the characters
and it feels as though it's about halfway through
the credits start to trickle down the screen
and you're left wondering what would have come next
where did all the beautiful cinematography go?
where did all that lovely scenery escape to?
did the heroine kiss me after all?
did i save her in the end?
and suddenly it's drafty and cold
the panic begins to set in and unnerve your soul
suddenly you are caught up in the constant act of unravelling
like a caterpillar's sixteen steps resulting in the fraying
of everything that it casually touches and passes by
inch after painfully slow inch

spin

we put a new spin
on the act on breaking-up
one that i'm especially proud
of having conceived of
we agreed that after all three
beautiful years of you and me
that we owed it to ourselves
not to let our last memory
be such an entirely sad one
so we met again with one rule
that for one night only
there would be no rules
we would embody all that
we had come to love about each other
so that's exactly what we did
we started out with japanese
eating across from each other on my bedspread
something like chopstick foreplay
we devoured courses of each others' eyes
prolonging the inevitable as long as we could
our tongues met for the very first and last time
it was nothing short of chemical magic
i removed your bra to discover vegas nipple tassels
and undressed you like a puzzle of a thousand pieces
i teased your swollen lips
and kissed your jet black fabric
i used scissors to make a precise cut
at the equator of your panties
and exposed your rare delicacy
i breathed your scent and savored it
tracing tiny circles around your rosebud
and feeling for its effect
we united in thunderous rhythms
and loved like only lovers
meant to last
could even attempt
we succumbed to each others' every last desire
and made it last for hours
i can still still taste your honey on my lips

prolonged exposure

the key to being a good lover
is less about having a bag of tricks
up your sleeveless arm
and more about spontaneity
it's miles away from locker room anecdotes
and much closer to the ability to perceive
the subtle signs she will unknowingly reveal
it's about listening and feeling
and sensing and searching
it's about selflessness
and intuitiveness
it's about creativity
and togetherness
a good lover will blow your mind
time and time again
if only you can reach in
and find a way to connect with hers
great lovers don't need instruction
they wear each other in

firehouse 99

i witnessed
my little brother
officially become
a firefighter today
i can't explain
how proud i am of him
words just won't do it justice
the good folks in markham
can sleep a little sounder tonight
thanks to the new kid in firehouse 99
i love you, brother

a southpaw's grammer

my dear friend, michael
keeps me in songs
wraps me in melodies
insulates me in reverb
and always says goodnight
through my headphones

春節

january twenty-third
six o'clock
ante meridiem
i awake
eighteen floors high
a whole year older
none the wiser
and lower than ever
with a kink in my neck
that could rival
that of the
intermediate egret
writhing in pain
i can only laugh
at the irony
on this balcony
i let cold rain
streak down my cheeks
trying to light a cigarette
i discover that
both of my lighters
can't be bothered
it's monday
it's pouring
it's my my thirty-first birthday
writhing in pain
i can only laugh
at the irony
eighteen floors up
and lower than ever before
on the day of the chinese new year

discerning scents

i wish i could have
captured your scent
bottled it
and taken it with me
everywhere that i went

lester's got bangs, baby

a heavy dose
of the human league
darvon, valium and nyquil
will leave a typewriter
lonely and uninspired

every day is like monday

today is
blue monday
they say
it truly is
the saddest
day
of the year
according
to experts
it falls on
the third monday
that follows
christmas
each and every year
this fine one
lands on
january sixteenth
be it
post holiday debt
unrealized resolutions
veiled sunlight
or the veil
you'll never
get the chance
to see
your lover wear
down the aisle
today is
blue monday
they say
it truly is
the saddest
day
of the year

not for publication

regarding this coming saturday
here's to one last kick at the can
all smiles and held hands
here's to us
even at the end

what goes around comes out your eyes

tears like these
refuse
to stop on command
not for anything in the world
so you spend your entire day
holding them back
fitting in
playing nice
doing your job
and acting as normal
as you possibly can
it's such an exhausting routine
it takes every ounce of your energy
to fight for breath
to stay afloat
you can actually pull muscles
from just trying to keep it together
and now that you're finally home
and the door is shut behind you
tears like these
refuse to stop falling
they won't rest
until seventy percent of you
has wasted away
the last drop can be painful
half water and half dirt
tears like these
are patient observers
waiting for you to thirst again
and they know you will
because you don't have a choice
tears like these
thrive on knowing
that you have to
get up
and do it
all over again
and again
and again

bleed

every time i promise myself
that i won't reach out to you
i fail so very miserably
it's so hard
to keep it all to myself
i can't see a beautiful sight
without wanting to show it to you
i can't hear a great song
without wanting to play it for you
i can't read the perfect line
without wanting to recite it to you
i can't keep my half from you
because my other half is you

glossed over me

you're the anaphora
i'm the ambiance
you are the double entendre
i am the elegy
you're the flash fiction
i'm the flat fee
you are the guidelines
i am the ghostwriter
you're the hyperbole
i'm the hook
you are the kicker
i am the kill fee
you're the myth
i'm the ode
you are the parable
i am the paradox
you're the rejection slip
i'm the satire
you are the damsel
i am the distressed

the abc's of religious intolerance

afghanistan
bosnia
côte d'ivoire
cyprus
east timor
indonesia, province of ambon
indonesia, province of halmahera
iraq
kashmir
kosovo
kurdistan
macedonia
middle east
nigeria
northern ireland
pakistan
philippines
russia, chechnya
somalia
south africa
sri lanka
sudan
thailand
tibet
uganda
us

if it can't begin with us,
how can we possibly expect
these war torn-countries
to follow suit?

no reply

a cry for help
that falls on deaf ears
is a waste of one's last breath

american beauty tips

like lester burnham
this is the highlight of my day
jerking off
without any direction from sam mendes
without so much as a boom operator
in a shower
not worthy of kevin spacey
he hopes
it's not all downhill from here
but i know better
this slope is just beginning to get slippery

bust

like a blackjack dealer
on his day off
i just don't wanna deal

current obsession: anagrams

poetry = yet pro
michael = claim he
crumpton: cunt romp
jack daniels = jack denials
vote ford = voted for (not me, i swear)
trustworthy: hurt ow tryst
orgasm = arms go
best friends = bender fists
clint eastwood = old west action
george bush junior = go bush injure gore
cocaine = oceanic
north america = macho terrain
dormitory = dirty room
a decimal point = i’m a dot in place
elvis = lives
eleven plus two = twelve plus one
butterfly = flutter by
the eyes = they see
the morse code = here come dots
sad poems = pads some
stone roses = resets soon
morrissey = semi sorry
the country side = no city dust here
conversation = voices rant on
jim morrison = mr. mojo risin'

charlière

god gave us helium
to prepare us for women
he only works
in mysterious ways
if you refuse
to see the simplicity
in his lessons
take helium for example
swallowed by a plain old balloon
it defies gravity
and you learn pretty quickly
to hold onto it for dear life
an infatuation we all develop
as tiny little children
and we refuse to let go
long after we've grown out of balloons
now that i'm a little older
i see god at work at every country fair
and every time i see a child
cry over a balloon that got away
i see a hundred men
keeping their tears to themselves
thinking just you wait
you little bastard
this is only just the beginning

fly your panties flag

in that hostel in praha
battered by the rain
we threw our privacy to the puddles
and watched our reflections
bend and bleed and blur
doused in the setting sun
in those bricks older than all of us
eroded by a world war
we favoured anything adoaptorless
and postcards stamped but pictureless
keep these untouched churches
to yourself, we thought
we'll have our cameras
stolen in sexy berlin subway cars
just to preserve that light
creeping up under the floorboards
because some things
should never be captured
ever

paint him blacklisted

maybe it's just me
but even if keith fucking richards himself
wanted me to play
in his hypothetical new band
i'd have to insist on a confidentiality clause
and i'd certainly never show him my penis

that being said, i refuse to ever get married
without "wild horses" being the song that's played
for my mine and my baby's first dance

it hardly seems fair

never date a girl with cats
unless you're into being broken up with
three times in a single night
one day you wake up
with cuddling options
and the next
you wake up alone
still just as covered in cat hair

wedding wine

i can't find you in my day-to-day
and you're certainly not
in the bottom of this bottle
believe me, i've checked
again and again
nope - not you
just wedding wine
and bits of cork
but not even real cork
because the goddamn cork trees
had to go and die or something
just like you and i
fuck it - just to make sure
i'll take one last look
wine not?

part & parcel

the cold gets in
into our bones
into our minds
and into our smiles
listlessness ensues
frigid somnolence
slows our hearts
deprives us of light
and wears us away
until we are at each other
hands clutching throats
anything to stay warm
any port in a storm
part & parcel warmth
when we dream together
we dream in summer
teeming under blankets
i'd rather freeze this winter
than hibernate beside another
not any port in a storm
just you
just us
part & parcel
at the mercy of a space heater
mr. & mrs. fuss